A History professor (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes aware of a bit-part actor who is his exact double. When he decides to contact and meet him, the actor's pregnant wife (Sarah Gadon) becomes suspicious given her husband's philandering past and the professor begins to have second thoughts. An astonishing film by Denis Villeneuve this is brilliantly tense throughout and a genuine mystery that deserves multiple viewings.
The acting is impressive (particularly Gadon whose dawning horror that her husband may have a split personality is brilliantly conveyed) and there's enough symbolism and seemingly random scenes that deserve scrutiny.
Ultimately, I read the film as, among other things (e.g masculinity's fear of control/domestication), a clash between Gyllenhaal's Id, Ego and Superego that have manifested with the actor representing the Id who is trying to be reigned in by the Ego and, especially, the Superego. The Id represents the selfish, wandering male who can't bear to be tied down to the one woman and the Ego wants the Id to experience his sexual desire to be/see other women in 'socially acceptable' ways; hence the sex/gentleman's club represents a necessarily crucial element where attendance is far more forgivable than cheating on your wife/girlfriend. Then there's the Superego of professor Jake who is trying to guide actor Jake to the morally appropriate action of staying with his wife, avoiding sex clubs and especially avoiding his true desire to stray.
Does his girlfriend (played by Melanie Laurent) even actually exist or is she merely a fantasy of actor Jake's desire to escape the web of marriage/domestication? I think she ultimately does exist on some level; his wife has strongly implied that he's cheated on her in the past (perhaps with Laurent). However, when he does take this bait again it ends disastrously, the car crash's shattered windscreen is, not coincidentally, just like a spiderweb as it symbolises his trapped life. His wife, at the end, symbolised by the giant tarantula (ironically, they don't spin webs) epitomises his fear of what marriage and fatherhood will mean, but interestingly the tarantula strongly recoils against him when he walks in as she perhaps fears his inability to remain faithful and not hurt her (emotionally) again.
This is a great, or close to great, film. It's an intelligent and cynical look at fidelity and masculinity and to top it off, its creepiness and mood of unease throughout, pushes it into the horror genre.
The acting is impressive (particularly Gadon whose dawning horror that her husband may have a split personality is brilliantly conveyed) and there's enough symbolism and seemingly random scenes that deserve scrutiny.
Ultimately, I read the film as, among other things (e.g masculinity's fear of control/domestication), a clash between Gyllenhaal's Id, Ego and Superego that have manifested with the actor representing the Id who is trying to be reigned in by the Ego and, especially, the Superego. The Id represents the selfish, wandering male who can't bear to be tied down to the one woman and the Ego wants the Id to experience his sexual desire to be/see other women in 'socially acceptable' ways; hence the sex/gentleman's club represents a necessarily crucial element where attendance is far more forgivable than cheating on your wife/girlfriend. Then there's the Superego of professor Jake who is trying to guide actor Jake to the morally appropriate action of staying with his wife, avoiding sex clubs and especially avoiding his true desire to stray.
Does his girlfriend (played by Melanie Laurent) even actually exist or is she merely a fantasy of actor Jake's desire to escape the web of marriage/domestication? I think she ultimately does exist on some level; his wife has strongly implied that he's cheated on her in the past (perhaps with Laurent). However, when he does take this bait again it ends disastrously, the car crash's shattered windscreen is, not coincidentally, just like a spiderweb as it symbolises his trapped life. His wife, at the end, symbolised by the giant tarantula (ironically, they don't spin webs) epitomises his fear of what marriage and fatherhood will mean, but interestingly the tarantula strongly recoils against him when he walks in as she perhaps fears his inability to remain faithful and not hurt her (emotionally) again.
This is a great, or close to great, film. It's an intelligent and cynical look at fidelity and masculinity and to top it off, its creepiness and mood of unease throughout, pushes it into the horror genre.